Voip Demystified
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Chapter 1 VoIP Demystified Abstract VoIP tools come in many configurations and have been applied with great diversity in libraries. This chapter outlines the technical foundation and adoption patterns of online voice and video calling, and explores how VoIP provides insight into the library technology cycle on a broader scale. Why VoIP? In a 2007 Librarian in Black post, Sarah Houghton-Jan described Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as “not a really sexy technology.”1 In terms of the bleeding-edge con- Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology cepts Library Technology Reports tends to focus on, I’d have to agree. Web voice and video are old news: Skype’s international popularity is established, voice and video chat proliferate in social media, embedded webcams are com- monplace, and many organizations have made the transi- tion to IP phones in offices and classrooms. The rise of mobile technology is another nail in VoIP’s nonsexy coffin: international cell subscriptions continue to skyrocket and have already far outstripped landline and Web phones.2 www.alatechsource.org Bearing this in mind, you might be wondering why I’ve chosen VoIP as the subject of this report. When Web calling tools began to emerge several years ago, I took on the de facto role of video reference evangelist. I predicted that applications like Skype could transform how librar- ians provided public services over the Web. I imagined video consultations and kiosks that could increase ser- vice point efficiency and humanize the virtual reference 2010 July experience. When I worked at Ohio University between 2006 and 2008, my colleagues and I built an interest- Figure 1 ing, innovative, and frequently hilarious proof-of-concept Hilarity ensues. 5 Hope, Hype, and VoIP: Riding the Library Technology Cycle Char Booth video kiosk using Skype and a couple of webcams (figure 1). After about two highly instructive years of opera- tion, we (they, actually—by this time I had relocated to California) shut the kiosk down. The Library Hype Cycle Why did I have such high hopes for video reference, which I will show to be among lowest impact applications of VoIP that have come to pass? A partial answer is that I was caught up in the overenthusiasm that often accompanies the innovation process, otherwise known as “hype cycle” Figure 2 thinking. When a new tool catches Representation of the Hype Cycle (Wikimedia Commons). the eye of trend watchers, it initiates an arc of blog and tweet prognosti- cation that spurs people and organizations to adopt the Learning to Fail tool. Some expectations pan out while others don’t, and lessons are learned and (hopefully) shared in the pro- Piloting Web voice and video in libraries personally taught cess. This progression from hype to hope to reality is me an important lesson about working with technology: often bound up in library technology adoption. snafus are going to occur, and a concept rarely performs Developed by Gartner Research, the hype cycle (more to expectations. This reality is not often addressed in the of a curve, really) describes the rise and fall trajectory discourse of our field—in presentations I have given on shared by many emerging technologies, from Second Life the video kiosk, the audience has invariably been sur- to the iPad (figure 2).3 It begins with a technology trigger prised when I have spoken about our difficulties with can- that creates an upswing of media and user interest leading dor. Challenges in experimental initiatives are inevitable, to a peak of inflated expectations, after which a trough but can be guided by planning and made didactic through of disillusionment occurs as expectations are not met or reflection. The kiosk program taught me to try and under- the shine simply wears off. This is followed by a gradual stand my users at least as well as I understand the appli- slope of enlightenment where more modest assessments cation itself, to learn from setbacks in order to address are made, culminating in a plateau of productivity as the problems, and cultivate a perspective that is simultane- lasting utility of a tool is determined. ously positive and critical. This education did not occur July 2010 July Instead of inflating expectations around the next big in one fell swoop. Rather, it accumulated over the kind of thing, this LTR examines how a once-hyped technology time that is sorely lacking in the day-to-day whirlwind, the eventually reached its plateau of productivity. In other very condition that makes taking a tool at face value so words, it’s not in spite of the shine being off of VoIP that tempting in the first place. I’m taking it on, but because of it. Unlike many up-and- coming tools, VoIP has longevity. Over the last decade, it has come to facilitate much of the one-to-one, one-to- A Lesson in Layers www.alatechsource.org many, and many-to-many voice and video communication Successful technology development takes depth of per- that happens over the Web, from Vonage to voice chat, spective. In this issue, I explore VoIP in the three suc- gaming consoles to Web meeting tools. Not only has VoIP cessive layers of utility, application, and insight, each of underpinned a massive paradigm shift in how people com- which examines a critical stage in the process. municate in “fixed” locations, it is beginning to enable free calling and messaging on smartphones and handheld Layer 1: Utility devices. Examining VoIP’s library applications—some dis- mal failures, others raging successes—can inform nascent Behind every application and platform are practical affor- Web voice and video projects as well as innovation in dances that translate to library implementations. Skype is Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology other areas. the tip of the VoIP iceberg, and in the first two chapters 6 Hope, Hype, and VoIP: Riding the Library Technology Cycle Char Booth You Asked for It I have written this LTR for many reasons, but primarily in response to persistent curiosity about VoIP tools in library con- texts: people find my blog (info-mational) several times a day by searching for “Skype in libraries” or “video reference” (figure 3). I also wanted to evaluate the assumptions I once made about Web voice and video, and carry my experience with this specific platform through produc- tivity instead of ditching out at inflated Figure 3 expectations. This amounts to a personal Blog search terms. exercise in technology literacy, an oppor- tunity to learn deeply about the commu- nication tools I not only take for granted I run the gamut of Web calling and conferencing options, in my working and personal life, but that I once held in functionality, and costs: irrationally high regard. Think of this report as a long-range view on how to • Chapter 1: VoIP Demystified brace for impact in a culture of perpetual beta. Examining • Chapter 2: IP Phones, Software VoIP, and Integrated a platform that has for years paradoxically promised, deliv- and Mobile VoIP ered, and disappointed is an excellent way to identify stra- tegic, reality-based, and resource-conscious local decisions. I look critically and creatively at technology “success” and Layer 2: Application “failure” in order to develop lasting local best practices Those using Web voice and video in public services, edu- for pilots and proof-of-concept projects. In VoIP’s library cation, and professional communication become familiar lifespan there is evidence of how we anticipate change and with the capabilities and quirks of the technology. This adapt to the complex information landscape. By the end familiarity translates to best practices for the rest of us. of chapter 7 end you may still not find web calling particu- The next two chapters examine how Web voice and video larly sexy, but you should be able to determine whether have been put to work throughout the field: or not one of its applications (or something else entirely, for that matter) can be used to achieve cost reduction, • Chapter 3: VoIP in Professional Communication, Col- productivity, service, or collaboration goals. Now, down laboration, and Development to business. ReportsLibrary Technology • Chapter 4: VoIP in Reference, User Services, and Instruction Unequal Access: Phone and Broadband Layer 3: Insight Personal telephones are almost ubiquitous in the United It is equally (if not more) instructive to look at where Web States. A 2010 FCC report estimated that 95 percent or calling has proven itself not useful along the library hype more of U.S. residents have some type of subscription cycle. Chapters 5 and 6 critically examine the OU kiosk phone service, a number that is unlikely to decline in pilot and the video reference experience. In an era of con- coming years.4 How people use their phones is changing www.alatechsource.org stant innovation, VoIP’s adaptable longevity also merits dramatically, however. The demographics of analog, VoIP, closer examination. Chapter 7 considers shifting user and cellular phone use are complex: a growing number of communication and connectivity paradigms, and closes younger, mobile-only consumers are causing a decline in with an analysis of the implications of knowledge sharing fixed-location service, while many legacy home subscrib- for emerging technology development. ers are switching to subscription IP phones. Age is by no means the only factor: there are many areas in the United • Chapter 5: Video Kiosk as Hype Cycle States where analog service is the only option or where 2010 July • Chapter 6: Lessons for Library Innovation other access barriers exist.5 I encountered this myself • Chapter 7: Knowledge Sharing and the Next-Genera- while living in rural Ohio—My house had no cellular tion Network reception and exorbitant broadband satellite fees.